WWUSD begins planning 2019-20 budget

The first half of the current 2018-19 school year might be rounding the bend, but officials in the Whitewater Unified School District are turning their attention toward the next school year.

WWUSD administrators — including Matt Sylvester-Knudtson, director of business services, and Mark Elworthy, district administrator — discussed with the School Board several pieces of the 2019-20 school year planning puzzle, including the proposed budget, at a meeting Dec. 17.

The upcoming school year will mark the first of four years WWUSD will receive a fresh infusion of referendum funds.

In the November fall primary election, residents served by WWUSD approved the district’s referendum request to increase spending $12.8 million over a four-year stretch to fund operations.

Voters approved exceeding state revenue caps by $2 million in the 2019-20 school year, $2.8 million in 2020-21, $3.6 million in 2021-22 and $4.4 million in 2022-23.

In a two-page document, Sylvester-Knudtson combed through the overarching principles of budget planning, which will span more than half a year before the document is set in stone.

“The budget development process will be set to a strict timeline and involve input from a wide variety of stakeholders,” Sylvester-Knudtson wrote. “A detailed outline of the budget process and timeline will be presented to the board and posted on the district website.”

Plans call for Sylvester-Knudtson and Elworthy providing sketched-out updates on the 2019-20 school year budget planning process in January and February.

Read more on the discussions and an update the progress of a playground overhaul at two Whitewater elementary schools in the Dec. 27 Register.